Researchers document how broadbills make loud wing song

Broadbills - birds found in some parts of Africa - produce a startlingly loud sound that they make with their wings to mark off territory. Males fly abruptly in a tight circle, landing where they began, and produce a klaxon-like ...

Mystery of broadbills' wing song revealed

Waking up to the bubbling melody of a dawn chorus is one of life's simple pleasures, but not all birds indulge in vocal displays of virtuosity. Some, like hummingbirds, produce exotic buzzing sounds as their wing feathers ...

Morphing metal shapes future of soft robotics

Imagine an aircraft that could alter its wing shape in midflight and, like a pelican, dive into the water before morphing into a submarine. Cornell University engineering professor Rob Shepherd and his group might help make ...

High-tech bird watching for shapeshifting airplane wings

An international team of engineers and biologists will gain unprecedented insights into how birds fly so efficiently and then turn that knowledge to building unmanned aircraft with shapeshifting wings.

New material could make aircraft deicers a thing of the past

Instead of applying a deicing agent to strip ice from an aircraft's wings before stormy winter takeoffs, airport personnel could in the future just watch chunks slide right off without lifting a finger. Scientists report ...

Researcher provides global perspective on honeybee viruses

The global decline of honeybee populations has spurred a number of researchers to examine the role played by the parasitic varroa mite and the deadly Deformed Wing Virus it transmits. In early February a large-scale research ...

Bat-flight inspires unique design for micro air vehicles

Researchers from the University of Southampton have designed innovative membrane wings inspired by bats, paving the way for a new breed of unmanned Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that have improved aerodynamic properties, can ...

page 25 from 40